In a decision handed down in July 2016, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Real madrid and the Madrid City Hall had agreed an illegal transaction involving the sale of municipal land. (AFP photo)LUXEMBOURG: A top EU court on Wednesday cancelled a European Commission decision from 2016 that forced Spain to recover €18.4 million from Real Madrid because it considered a real estate refund as illegal state aid. In the deal, the club had paid €595,000 in 1998 for the land, but the operation had not come to fruition for technical reasons and authorities paid Real Madrid €22.7 million in compensation in 2011. Real Madrid lodged an appeal against this decision in October 2016. In February 2019, the European Court of Justice annulled another commission decision involving four Spanish clubs, including Real, but also Barcelona, Osasuna and Athletic Bilbao, to repay illegal state aid.

Source: Bangkok Post May 22, 2019 12:47 UTC